These are tales of what it was like for young men to go from the bucolic hills of New Hampshire to a land wracked by war and violence. The result is a collection of more than fifty accounts, showing the variety of experiences and reactions to this dramatic period in American history. Some soldiers were drafted, some volunteered; some supported the war, but many turned against it. Common to all the stories is the way in which war changes men, for good and ill, and the way in which the Vietnam experience colored so much of the rest of these writers’ lives.
Table of Contents
Foreword by James Wright • Preface • Introduction by Edward Miller • Abbreviations and Glossary • 1961–1963 • Military Service—Tom Seymour • An Undergrad in Vietnam—Anthony B. Thompson • Dartmuth Interruptus: Military and Maturity—Lockwood (Woody) Barr • Cold Wind for the Hanover Plain—Nelson Carman • 1964 • William Brewster Nickerson, ’64—Sage Dunlap Chase • Rolling Thunder: One Small Step to Enlightenment—Robert B. Field Jr. • Life aboard a U.S. Aircraft Carrier—Paul T. (Pete) Koenig • The Road from Dartmouth to Vietnam—John T. Lane • The Green Lieutenant—Hugh Savage • Supporting Our Troops and Country—Derick Denby • Vietnam-Era Military Service: Some Good Memories—Fritz Corrigan • Two Souths Remembered: America and Vietnam in the Mid-’60s—James P. Stewart • “I Never to See You Again”—Tim Brooks • Radio Days—Alan McKee • Vietnam and My Life—George Morrow • Paradoxes of War—Bud McGrath • Ours Is Not to Reason Why, Ours Is But to Sit and Wait—Richard Mack • Vietnam: A Defining Life Event—Neal Stanley • Vietnam: Before/During/After—David W. Kruger • Navy Days—Paul E. Hale • Ready, Willing, and Able: Life as a Helicopter Pilot aboard a Frigate in the Gulf of Tonkin—Robert (Bob) Parkinson • A Very Personal Experience—Glen Kendall • Scooter Driver—Ned Miller • Vietnam War Experiences—Charles L. Marsh Jr. • Down to the Sea in Ships—Ernie Notar • Tet’s Albatross—Charles G. Williams Jr. • Dartmouth and ROTC—Donald C. Bross • Observe, Analyze, and Respond—Stanley C. Herr • Vietnam in the Course of a Navy Career—Michael W. Parker • How Did I Miss Vietnam?—Michael M. MacMurray • 1965 • Entitled Elites and Exploited Expendables: The Privileged versus the Patriots—David S. deCalesta • The Police General’s Horse—Newell Grant • 1966 • Father and Son—George J. Fesus • A Life Saved—Willard Cook • The Maturing of a Dartmouth Marine—Lee A. Chilcote • Winning Hearts and Minds—Ivars Bemberis • 1967 • A Quiet War, a Damped Conscience—Robert J. (Woody) Woodruff • My WestPac Tour—Stephen M. Thompson • Vietnam—Accelerating My Maturity—Peter E. Luitwieler • Life in a Jungle Base Camp—Carl DuRei • LST-912 on the Rocks—Alan S. Woodberry • 1968 • From Lawyer to Aerial Recon Commander—James Laughlin III • The War at Home—Karl F. Winkler • Lawyering in the Army—Vietnam and Stateside—Philip McFerrin • Vietnam: Once in a Lifetime—Curt Little • “I Guess You Can Learn Something Anywhere”—Walton Smith • Thoughts on Vietnam—Jim Harris • Duty and Service in the Cold War Era—Edmund B. Frost • The Past as Prologue—Alan E. Ferris • Vietnam Remembered—Robert Hager • Fighting the War on the Home Front—John Topping • Nobody Knows and Nothing Changes—Lynn McCanse • Rear Guard—Bill Riggs • An Air Force JAG Desk Jockey—David W. Hess • 1969–1971 • Legacies of the Vietnam War—John T. Fishel • Drafted—Robert J. Rose • Missing from Action—C. Dean Razzano • Epilogue: The Plan—William Peters • Veterans from the Class of 1964 • Index